The Date

by Brenda Scott Royce

  “I promise.”

  * * *

  They walked back toward the south end of the cove to rejoin the others.

  As they got closer to the group, Mari stopped. Something on the shore had caught her eye. “Someone left a soda bottle on the beach.”

  Evan let go of her hand and strode to the water. She smiled, glad that he shared her interest in keeping the lakefront clean. But before she could say so, he turned and hurled the bottle toward the lake. It went high in an arc and then splashed a good distance from shore.

  Mari gasped. “Why did you do that?”

  Evan smiled, apparently pleased with the shot. “Why not?”

  “I was going to recycle that bottle. Now it’s at the bottom of the lake!” She told him about the environmental club she’d formed with Jenae. “Last weekend we cleaned tons of trash off this very beach. Including a bunch of golf balls, by the way.”

  “Yeah, I bet. Some of the guys at the club like to hit them into the lake.”

  She shot him a death glare. “They do?”

  “All the time. Those ‘retired’ balls I told you about? A lot of them end up in the lake. The guys call it a ‘burial at sea.’”

  Mari frowned. The lake bed must be littered with thousands of golf balls. She didn’t want to think about the fish living among all that garbage. “Do you do that? Hit golf balls into the water?”

  Evan shook his head. “I don’t even like to play golf.”

  “But you threw that bottle . . .”

  “Glass won’t hurt anything. People throw bottles into the ocean all the time, right? They even put messages inside. Eventually it all turns into sea glass. And isn’t glass made from sand, after all? So it’s all cool.”

  “It’s not cool, Evan. That bottle will take a million years to break down. It doesn’t belong there!”

  He expelled a sigh of frustration. “Okay, I’m sorry. I won’t do it again.”

  “Really?”

  Evan drew an X over his chest. “Cross my heart.”

  Mari nodded, relieved. They continued walking. Then she said, “We have to stop the golf club from polluting the lake.”

  “Whoa, what?” Evan held a hand up in protest. “They’re a bunch of rich golfers. They won’t listen to us. They do what they want. My job is to help them do it.”

  And you’re good at it, Mari thought ruefully. One of the best.

  They were nearing the fire pit now. Heads turned their way as they approached. Evan lowered his voice. “Hey, let’s not argue in front of everyone.”

  He reached for her hand and led her back to the chairs they’d abandoned earlier.

  Aaron looked up from his guitar and gave Mari a wink. He knew she’d been crushing on Evan for months. He seemed glad to see them together at last.

  She was glad, too, but she felt unsettled. It wasn’t just the prank. Talking to Evan didn’t come as naturally as she’d thought it would. It was forced and awkward. Not at all how she’d imagined. This is just a first date, she reminded herself. She was holding hands with the guy of her dreams. And she was surrounded by her friends—well, most of them, anyway.

  She still had a lot to learn about Evan. And he still knew practically nothing about her. But they’d have plenty of time to build a relationship.

  In the meantime, she’d try to relax and enjoy the evening.

  16

  When Evan went to get them more drinks, Mari glanced at her phone. She’d missed a text from Jenae.

  How’s the bonfire?

  Mari looked over at Aaron. His guitar was resting on his lap. He was leaning back, taking a break between songs. He looked a little lost.

  She’d been foolish to ever think Aaron might have pulled the prank. He wasn’t that kind of guy. When Mari fell on her butt, it was Aaron—not Evan—who helped her up. Jenae was lucky to have him for a boyfriend.

  Mari lifted her phone and snapped a photo of him. She sent the picture to Jenae with the message:

  Not the same without you! Aaron is sad and all alone.

  A few seconds later, another text from Jenae.

  Poor guy. And how is the date?

  Mari typed “perfect,” and was about to hit send. Then she deleted the word and began again.

  Almost perfect.

  She looked at the time before sliding the phone back into her pocket. It was getting late. Some kids, including Nic and Annalise, had already left. The temperature was dropping. Mari shivered as she leaned toward the fire.

  “You okay?” Evan handed her a Coke. “You’ve got goosebumps on your arms.”

  “It is chilly.” Mari pulled her backpack onto her lap. She unzipped it and reached inside for her hoodie. As she tugged the hoodie out of the bag, a bunch of golf balls came tumbling out with it. She’d forgotten they were still in there. After signing the incident report, she’d gone straight to her next class. She’d never made it back to the gym.

  She was leaning forward to pick them up when she heard a shrill voice.

  “What are you doing with those?” Chelsea was standing in front of Mari. Arm still in a sling. Expression even more sour than before. With her free hand, she bent and picked a golf ball off the ground. “You did it,” she said, loud enough for everyone to hear. “You’re the one who booby-trapped that locker!”

  “What?” Aaron shook his head. “No way. Not Mari.”

  “I did not! That’s crazy,” Mari responded.

  Chelsea’s friend was standing now. “She was acting really weird today. Like she knew something was going to happen.”

  Chelsea nodded. “That’s right. And she was hanging around forever. Waiting. She kept staring at Aaron’s locker.”

  That part is true, Mari thought. But she couldn’t explain how she knew about the prank before it occurred.

  The other kids were staring at her now. One boy told her to turn herself into the police. “Your friend had to go to the hospital. You’re gonna be in big trouble.”

  “I got hurt too,” Chelsea said, wiggling her arm in the sling for emphasis.

  “Did you frame me?” Aaron narrowed his eyes at Mari. “The principal grilled me for over an hour.”

  “No!” Mari shook her head forcefully. “I . . . I didn’t—” Choking back tears, she couldn’t finish her sentence. Seeing the look in Aaron’s eyes really hurt her feelings. Does he really believe Chelsea’s accusations? she wondered.

  Someone shouted, “The vice principal said whoever did it could be expelled!”

  This was getting out of hand. Why didn’t anyone believe her?

  She looked around. Diana and Anjelia could back up her story. But she didn’t see either of them.

  There was only one person at the party who knew Mari was innocent.

  She turned and looked at Evan. He held her gaze for a moment, then looked down at his feet. He said nothing.

  Mari knew he was in a difficult position. If he admitted being the prankster, he’d be in big trouble. With the school, his job, his parents, and maybe even the police. He had a lot to lose by telling the truth. And only one thing to gain.

  Mari looked beyond him to the stars twinkling over the lake. She wished that Evan had thought she was worth the risk.

  17

  Mari brushed tears out of her eyes as she headed to the parking lot. An evening that had started out as magical had turned miserable. She wished she’d never accepted the do-over.

  Her father picked her up to bring her home. As usual, he didn’t ask many questions. Nor did he notice she’d been crying. She was grateful for that. How could she explain how badly she’d messed things up? As they drove, she got a text from Jenae:

  Aaron told me YOU put the golf balls in his locker. How could you? I’m going to have a scar on my forehead for the rest of my life!

  Mari quickly responded.

  It’s a lie. I can explain. Call you tomorrow.

  Jenae’s reply was instant:

  Is that why you kept apologizing for my accident? Because YOU DID IT?!
<
br />   Mari felt helpless. She typed out the only response she could think of.

  I didn’t! I swear.

  A few minutes later Jenae replied.

  Then WHO DID?

  Mari had hesitated. She hadn’t ratted Evan out at the bonfire, and she wouldn’t now. She didn’t want him to lose his job or his scholarship. More important, she wouldn’t go back on her word just because he turned out to be a jerk. Mari slowly typed out:

  I can’t tell you. I’m so sorry.

  She tucked her phone back into her pocket. It didn’t ping again for the rest of the drive.

  Back home in her room, Mari lay on her bed and stared up at her bedroom ceiling. Her thoughts were a jumbled mess. She needed to calm down. She wouldn’t be expelled, she told herself. The coach and the vice principal would confirm that she only had those golf balls in her backpack because she’d been cleaning up.

  But what about Jenae? She’d never forgive her for keeping the prankster’s identity a secret. And she couldn’t tell her about the do-over. She couldn’t tell anyone about that. Even her best friend. They’d think she was lying.

  The worst part was realizing how foolish she’d been. All those months, she’d dreamed about dating Evan. She’d built him up in her mind. The perfect guy. But he wasn’t. At least not for her. She wanted someone who shared some of her interests, who cared about the environment. Most of all, she wanted someone who would have her back.

  She picked up her phone and opened a social media app. Several kids had posted photos of the bonfire. She flipped through them until she saw one of her with Evan, earlier in the evening. Evan’s arm was draped around her shoulder. She was smiling, her face lit by the fire. At the time, she thought they were perfect together. Now she knew she’d been wrong.

  The more she looked at the picture, the worse she felt. It was just like the photo of Evan and Chelsea from her original reality—before the do-over. Evan’s expression was the same as she remembered. He looked just as pleased to be on a date with Mari as he had been with Chelsea. Mari felt completely replaceable.

  She scrolled down. The photo had thirteen comments. The first was from Chelsea.

  Glad you had fun at the bonfire while some of us suffered from your prank earlier.

  Several of her classmates expressed their surprise. A few kids she didn’t know chimed in, calling Mari names.

  Mari was humiliated. Being shamed on social media was even worse than falling in the hallway at school.

  Only Nic, who’d left the party early, seemed to doubt the story. He left a comment that simply read:

  I don’t believe it.

  That was encouraging, Mari thought. Her heart sank when she reached the last message in the chain. It was from Evan.

  Saw it with my own eyes. It’s always the quiet ones.

  That stung. Apparently, Evan was more interested in protecting his reputation than standing up for Mari. She blinked back fresh tears.

  More posts were being added to the thread, but Mari couldn’t take any more. She was about to shut down her phone when it pinged. A text message from the unknown number.

  Would you like to Un-Do your Do-Over?

  Another ping, another message.

  Reply YES to go back to your original reality.

  She still didn’t know who or what was behind these weird texts. But this time, she didn’t hesitate before typing her reply:

  YES.

  * * *

  The sun was high in the sky by the time Mari woke the next morning. She reached for her phone to check the time. As she did so, she felt a stab of pain in her shoulder. Did that mean . . .?

  Sitting up in bed, she tested her shoulder further. Ouch. Yep, definitely sprained.

  Her nightstand was covered with torn bits of paper. The pages she’d ripped from her journal.

  Another good sign.

  She checked her phone. The mysterious do-over texts were gone. Instead she had a string of messages from Jenae, asking if she was okay. The last text read:

  Please don’t be mad at me. I didn’t know Evan would hook up with Chelsea. What a loser!

  She didn’t know who Jenae was calling a loser, Evan or Chelsea. But either way, Mari appreciated her friend’s sympathy.

  Mari scrolled through Jenae’s messages again, looking for the “Seven stiches” photo. But it didn’t exist. Her friend had never been injured. Relief flooded her body.

  She checked her social media feeds. Everything was back to the way it was before. Including the photo of Evan and Chelsea, seated together at the bonfire.

  The do-over had truly been undone.

  As she continued scrolling, she saw a post from Chelsea that had a bunch of likes and comments.

  Found out at the bonfire tonight that EVAN was the golf ball prankster!! He actually admitted it to me, thinking it was funny . . . Can’t believe I wanted to date him! What a jerk. Considering turning him in to administration . . .

  Mari laughed aloud and clicked the “like” button. She knew exactly how Chelsea felt. Maybe Chelsea isn’t so bad after all. To be honest, she didn’t act any worse than I did. Evan clearly fooled us both.

  Although she felt bad about Evan dealing with the consequences, she would have felt even worse if Aaron was blamed for a prank he didn’t do. Chelsea’s post had cleared Aaron’s name, and Mari had kept her promise of not reporting Evan.

  She still remembered everything about her date with Evan. How excited she’d been that everything she’d hoped for had worked out. But now she knew that the guy she’d built up in her head wasn’t so great after all. This summer, she planned to make the most of her time with her real friends. And maybe once school started in the fall, she’d be able to look at Evan without thinking about how awful their date had been.

  She reread Jenae’s message, ashamed that she’d ever blamed her best friend for anything that happened. She typed a response:

  It’s not your fault. I probably dodged a bullet anyway. I have a feeling Evan isn’t the right guy for me.

  Moments later, her phone pinged, and she read Jenae’s response.

  You’re probably right. Wanna hang out later?

  They made plans to catch an afternoon movie, then Mari rolled onto her side and stared out the window. The sun was shining brightly, but she was in no hurry to get out of bed. School was out for summer.

  And she was happy.

  About the Author

  Brenda Scott Royce is a writer and editor with more than a dozen books to her name. She won grand prize in the 2015 Writer’s Digest Annual Writing Competition. When not writing, she enjoys hiking and spending time in nature. She lives outside Los Angeles with her son and two rescue cats, Morty and Mabel.